Quotes About Independence

I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America.

If an American was condemned to confine his activity to his own affairs, he would be robbed of one half of his existence.

Nothing is more wonderful than the art of being free, but nothing is harder to learn how to use than freedom.

Americans are so enamored of equality, they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.

It is indeed difficult to imagine how men who have entirely renounced the habit of managing their own affairs could be successful in choosing those who ought to lead them. It is impossible to believe that a liberal, energetic, and wise government can ever emerge from the ballots of a nation of servants.

One pays a price for innovation, and innovators, knowing this, are hardly conciliators: books are not written specifically to please others; they are written, like it or not, to please oneself.

Students will become good readers when they read more. Students will read more when they enjoy reading. They will enjoy reading when they enjoy their reading material. They will enjoy their reading material when they are left to choose it themselves, and to delve into it on their own terms.

When we repeatedly promise rewards to children for acting responsibly, or to students for making an effort to learn something new, or to employees for doing quality work, we are assuming that they could not or would not choose to act this way on their own.

Some who support more coercive strategies assume that children will run wild if they are not controlled. However, the children for whom this is true typically turn out to be those accustomed to being controlled—those who are not trusted, given explanations, encouraged to think for themselves, helped to develop and internalize good values, and so on. Control breeds the need for more control, which then is used to justify the use of control.

The greatest things are accomplished by individual people, not by committees or companies.

If the love and pursuit of literature do not make a man more independent in character, more disinterested in his reasonings, more elevated in his views, they will not have done for him what I should have expected from them.

No one should let himself fall slave to his own opinion.

I don't like to work with assistants. I'm already one too many the camera alone would be enough.

A lot of the things that will really improve the world fortunately aren't dependent on Washington doing something different.

Like Marco Rubio in 2010, I'm not going to back down from the Washington establishment. They are the problem, not the solution.

Folks in Washington have it all figured out - they are going to make your choices and run your life.

We've really got to stop looking to Washington to fix our problems. It obviously doesn't have the ability to do that. People who are successful are not successful because of the president.

Challenging orthodoxy is a death sentence in Washington.

I do not take orders from Washington, and I suggest that no one else should either.

At a time when special interest money is being showered on legislators in Washington, grassroots donors offer members of Congress a refreshing independence. The $25 and $50 donor is not looking for special favors. He or she is simply expecting their Congressman to go do the right thing.

I don't want anybody suspecting I am some sheep and part of the Washington D.C. establishment.

I resent Washington telling states, or the residents of those states, what to do and what to think.

I don't think I'm really open to having Washington change me.

The strength of America is not in Washington.